Aetius (praetorian prefect)

Politician

Aetius (fl. 419–425) was a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire, praefectus urbi of Constantinople and praetorian prefect of the East.

## Life[edit]

Aetius was praefectus urbi of Constantinople. He is first attested in office on February 23, 419, when an old man called Cyriacus tried to kill him in the Great Church,[1] and again on October 4 of the same year, when he received a law preserved in the Codex Theodosianus.[2] He also received a law[3] dated to 409, but emended by scholars to 418, 420 or 422, in which he was to reduce the staff of the Great Church (this reduction has been suggested as a possible reason for the assassination attempt).[4] In 421 a large open-air water reservoir called "of Aetius" was built in Constantinople;[5] this Aetius might be the praefectus urbi, who could be still in office[4] as his successor, Florentius, is first attested in November 422.

A law addressed to him was issued on May 5, 425 that calls him a praetorian prefect;[6] it is not clearly stated if he was praetorian prefect of the East or of Illyricum, but the former is more probable.[4]

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ Chronicon Paschale, sub anno 419.
2. ^ Codex Theodosianus, XIV, 6.5a, regarding the lime makers.
3. ^ Codex Justinianus, I, 2.4a and IV, 63.5a
4. ^ a b c Martindale.
5. ^ Marcellinus Comes, sub anno 421.
6. ^ Codex Theodosianus, XV, 4.1a, about the imperial images.

## Sources[edit]

* John Robert Martindale, "Aetius 1", The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1980, ISBN 0-521-20159-4, pp. 19–20.

Preceded by

Ursus

|  Praefectus urbi of Constantinople
(418?-)419(-?421)  | Succeeded by

Florentius

|
|

Preceded by

Asclepiodotus

|  Praetorian prefect of the East
425  | Succeeded by

Hierius (I)